By Anne Cosgrove
From the November/December 2024 Issue
The aviation industry is a cornerstone of global connectivity, fostering economic growth, international trade, and cultural exchange. Comprising airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers, and auxiliary services, the industry is vital for transporting passengers and cargo efficiently across vast distances. And the success of aviation operations heavily depends on strategic site selection for airports, maintenance facilities, and other aviation infrastructure.
Site selection in the aviation industry requires meticulous planning and analysis, considering multiple factors.
Roswell, NM: A Proud Heritage Meets The Future
The City of Roswell is a vibrant community of about 48,000 and numbering over 66,000 in greater Chaves County. While known internationally for the 1947 UFO incident, the community is also an impressive participant in New Mexico’s aviation economy.
Roswell has a proud and enduring heritage in aerospace and aviation. Robert Goddard, who was considered the father of modern rocket propulsion, conducted experimentation with liquid fueled rockets in Roswell in the 1930 and 1940s. The Roswell Air Center (RAC) is the site of the former Walker Air Force Base. Being an original base of Strategic Air Command (SAC), the existing infrastructure is conducive to maintenance, 24/7 operations, and aircraft storage. The city’s high altitude, average 310 days of sunshine per year, and low weather volatility make for ideal flying conditions. RAC is home to four maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities, and several manufacturing activities. The air center’s footprint is a 5,000-acre complex in a designated Opportunity Zone. It has a 13,000-foot primary runway and a 10,000-foot crosswind runway.
In May 2024, the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) selected the City of Roswell as the new host location for is National Championship Air Races (NCAR). Known as “The World’s Fastest Motorsport,” thse races are a 10-day contest structured around seven different classes of air racing. In between the races, spectators view world-class military and civilian air show performers along with static displays of military and historical aircraft. The event is moving to Roswell starting in September 2025 after being in Reno, Nevada since 1964.
When it comes to aviation workforce, Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell (ENMU-R) provides more than 40 quality vocational training programs to include an A.A.S. in Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT). ENMU-R has one of the two Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) schools located in New Mexico.
Aviation Soars In Kansas
Salina, Kansas and the State of Kansas as a whole have a long history of in the aircraft and aerospace industries. In 2005, when millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett needed an ideal location and support services for the first nonstop, solo flight around the world, he chose the Salina Regional Airport as his take-off and landing point and the students at Kansas State Polytechnic to provide mission control.
Salina Regional Airport is home to the Kansas State Polytechnic campus, which operates the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Drone program and one of only 12 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) research facilities in the country. Graduates of the Polytechnic campus in Salina are prepared for almost any job in the aviation and aeronautics industries. These include: airport maintenance and management; airframe and power plant (A&P) maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO); UAS flight and operations; and UAS design and integration.
Avflight Salina Corporation—a fixed base operator (FBO)—operates out of Salina Regional Airport, offering cargo and freight services, as well as flight and pilot services for commercial, military, and other clients.
The Salina Regional Airport and Industrial Center offers several buildings with almost 200,000 square feet of covered space, along with sites for development. With utilities and infrastructure in place, this industrial hub is well-suited for aviation and aerospace companies.
Businesses locating to Salina Regional Airport have access to several hangars, including some that can accommodate aircraft with tail heights of up to 34 feet. Aircraft service companies, charter airlines, and other related businesses have direct access to a main runway, which at 12,301 feet long by 150 feet wide, can support the large aircraft.
A joint effort between the Salina Airport Authority, Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus, and Pure Imagination Labs created the Kansas Advanced Immersive Research for Emerging Systems Center(K-AIRES). Construction began in August 2024, and it is expected to open in 2026.
The Center’s building will be built and initially owned by the Salina Airport Authority and leased to Kansas State University Salina with a sub-lease to Pure Imagination Labs. The company is expanding its operation to Salina from its headquarters in Los Angeles, CA to help develop this center for immersive technology. The company will be working with the private sector, the military, and in education. The Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus will be developing a new degree program that will help train students for employment with information.
Read the latest economic development, corporate relocation, corporate expansion and site selection news from the aerospace, defense, and aviation industries on Business Facilities.
Space Economy: The Emerging Frontier
Growth in the global space economy has taken off over the past two decades, gaining speed and altitude. Companies entering or expanding capabilities in this sector are searching for new locations, partnerships, and opportunities. In 2023, sector value totaled $630 billion, according to World Economic Forum (WEF) research. Valuation is predicted to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, according to a report released by WEF in April 2024, and would roughly rival the size and reach of the global semiconductor industry.
The WEF report, titled “Space: The $1.8 Trillion Opportunity for Global Economic Growth,” was developed in partnership with McKinsey & Company. A main point: The growth of the space industry will largely be built upon the increased reach of space-based and/or -enabled technologies, such as communications, positioning, navigation and timing, and Earth observation.
Also of note, the report asserts the space economy’s impact will extend to connecting people and goods on Earth.”
The U.S. space economy is following the global growth trajectory. In June, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released updated estimates of the space economy’s contribution to U.S. current-dollar and chained-dollar (“real”) gross domestic product (GDP) and gross output by industry.
The BEA statistics also show the space economy accounted for $131.8 billion (.5%) of total U.S. GDP in 2022, and supported 347,000 private-sector jobs.
